T20 Blast wrap: Ackermann delivers thrilling win for Leicestershire

Colin Ackermann delivered a thrilling three-wicket win for Leicestershire as they chased down 174 on the very last ball of the contest at Aigburth. Ackermann hit a six on the last ball when three were needed to seal the deal.

With a stiff target ahead of them, Ackermann received good support from Mark Cosgrove (34) but Lancashire ensured they kept chipping away to keep nosing ahead in the contest.

Leicestershire wobbled in the 11th over of the chase as they lost Mark Cosgrove, Ned Eckersley and Lewis Hill to slip to 128 for 5. It was Ackermann's fireworks that helped the team get close and eventually get over the line.

Earlier, Liam Livingstone (48), Arron Lilley (30) and a 21-ball 39 from Jos Buttler helped Lancashire post a challenging total after being put in. However, late wickets dented their chances and that eventually proved fatal.

Northamptonshire cantered to an easy six-wicket win over Durham at the Riverside Ground on Sunday (July 9), chasing down 162 with four overs to spare. Ben Duckett's 56-ball 72 created a smooth passage for the win with others making handy contributions.

Put in, Durham's innings lacked momentum as they kept losing wickets and were able to post a par score. Jack Burnham scored an unbeaten half-century but with Michael Richardson and Paul Collingwood failing to convert their starts, the team was pegged back.

Reduced to 33 for 2, Richardson and Burnham scored 40 for the third wicket to bring the innings back on track. So when Burnham and Collingwood scored another 57 in the next 6.4 overs for the fourth wicket, the hosts seemed on track for a big, challenging score.

Rory Kleinveldt came back to dent Durham as his three quick wickets denied the hosts a late flourish.

After a steady start, Duckett and Alex Wakely (27) scored 80 for the third wicket in the chase in 9.1 overs to deliver Northamptonshire's first win.

Tamim Iqbal's first outing for Essex ended in a defeat as Kent picked up a comfortable seven-wicket victory in Beckenham on Sunday. Tamim made only 7 off 7 balls before getting bowled by Adam Milne. That was followed by useful contributions from Varun Chopra, Ravi Bopara and Ryan ten Doeschate to help Essex recover. Kent staged a strong fightback in the last two overs to ensure Essex didn't get anywhere closer to 180.

Joe Denly then got off to a flier in the run chase striking three fours and three sixes. Even though Simon Harmer managed to castle him for 32, a target of 167 was never going to trouble the Kent batsmen. Opener Daniel Bell-Drummond smashed an unbeaten 90 off just 55 balls to guide his side past the finishing line.

Surrey pulled through in dramatic fashion right at the death against Somerset at the Kennington Oval in London after Corey Anderson came close to spoil their party. Defending 181, Surrey looked to be cruising towards a huge win as they had Somerset reeling at 106 for 8 at one stage. But Anderson staged a spirited fightback alongside the tail and was also aided by a 12-run penalty.

The on-field umpires found Surrey to be two overs short and hence penalised them by 12 runs which gave the visitors more hope with three overs left. In the end, Anderson's run out in the final over ensured that Surrey scraped through by four runs.

Earlier in the day, their total of 181 was set up by Australian opener Aaron Finch, who made 61 off 42 deliveries. Sam Curran's 21-ball 39 proved to be vital towards the end as well.

The Arundel Castle Cricket Club Ground witnessed two high class centuries as Colin Ingram and Luke Wright went on a six-hitting spree to light up the venue. In the end, Wright's efforts went in vain as Sussex fell 18 runs short of Glamorgan's tally. Both batsmen made identical scores (101) and had hit the same number of sixes (7). Ingram's unbeaten century was also the fastest (46 balls) by a Glamorgan batsman in T20 cricket.

The difference between the two sides proved to the contributions from the other batters around the centurions in both innings. While Ingram found support from Jacques Rudolph and Chris Cooke to guide his side to 198, Wright saw wickets fall at regular intervals at the other end during the chase that hampered his side.